Delta #EpicPowerFail 4 : Delta/Aurora, Drugs and Dividends

Received from Christchurch Driver [CD]
Sun, 30 Oct 2016 at 9:09 p.m.

Readers, your correspondent has decided that the present Delta/Aurora situation has many similarities to a drug deal gone wrong.

Grady Cameron and Matt Ballard have a drug problem, and the drug concerned is dividends. They are being stood over by their directorial pimps, Stuart McLauchlan, Trevor Kempton, Ian Parton, David Frow and ex ORFU beat-up specialist Steve Thompson (who are also heavy users of the dividends concerned), to produce more, more, more, every year. Despite the intimidation from the pimps, and threats of financial violence (if you don’t meet the most important KPI being $9.5M of dividends, no salary increase for you !), they bought themselves some breathing space, for a year or two, but down at the street corner (where the poles are !), Messrs Cameron and Ballard stopped looking after the infrastructure that laid the golden eggs of revenue a long time ago and stiff-armed them instead. The result ? – the “network” concerned voted with their cross-arms and simply “fell away” ….but who are the pimps working for ? Who has the raging dividend habit ? Who is the junkie that like all junkies, will engage in lies, fraud, misrepresentation as grist to its mill to feed its dividend habit ? It is of course the atrophied and hollowed out financial wreck that is the Forsyth Barr Stadium, that has a 40-year $7.2M dividend drug habit that it needs and feeds on for survival. Who allows this habit to continue and feeds off it also ? Mayor Cull, the Pablo Escobar of Portobello Rd.

While on the subject of addictive behaviour, Vaughan Elder and Chris Morris will also soon have a drinking problem, because from Saturday every time they venture into a bar, they will be shouted a drink by all Dunedinites that live or walk by a rotten power pole (all of them). The Otago Daily Times (ODT) had a flood of coverage and it was excellent, including a precise summary of the recent dismal Delta and Aurora history. Book your flights to the national media awards now guys. Hopefully this is the virtuous circle in action – excellent coverage, more ODTs and advertising sold, more resources given to the story, more revelations, more ODTs sold. Your correspondent has been proven to be very wrong in his earlier #EpicPowerFail post. Far from being missing in action, after a late start they are all over the issue, and instead of making us sick they are making us proud. Go ODT !!

Today your correspondent was alarmed at the offhand comment made by Pablo Escobar’s DCHL sideman, Mr Crombie, when he said in response to being grilled by the ODT that “the financial effects of replacing thousands of poles could be managed by changes to the timing of Aurora’s planned capital programme”.

There are two very important questions that arise from this – 1) How much will the replacement of the poles cost, and 2) what items of Aurora’s capital programme can be deferred.

Dealing with 2) first, Mr Crombie must have been mainlining on dividends and as high as a kite when he said this. Either that or there was a forlorn attempt at some more quarter truths and a desperate hope that the long term Aurora Asset Management Plan 2016-2026 (AMP) might disappear from the Internet. Your correspondent, fortified with a LOT of Bells did some heavy lifting through the 185-page document and can report the following pearls from Aurora’s own AMP that show that Mr Crombie, like so many addicts, is delusional :

Firstly, in the space of one year from 2015 to 2016, the state of the network (without the recent revelations) was so knackered that even with the best attempts of Matt Ballard, the Delta ‘General Manager for Risk and Capability’, to minimise capex by various sleights of hand, including the famous algorithms outlined in #EpicPowerFail 3, the amount of capital spending required ballooned – in the space of a year – from $373M to $443M, an increase of $70M. (AMP, 7.1 Financial Forecasts). Incredibly, Mr Cameron and the Board indulged in misrepresentation by reporting to DCHL that the total 10-year capital spending increase was only $417M, not $443M, by the simple and dishonest expedient of comparing
two different 10-year periods. This piece of elementary financial alchemy clearly escaped Mr Crombie and the other DCHL directorial head nodders also.

Councillors, please remember that Mr Crombie is going to lecture you in a month or two that you Must Lend $13.2M as a second mortgage to a shell company, Infinity Yaldhurst, with no visible means of support, because There Is No Alternative. It is clear from the above he either cannot read an elementary spreadsheet, or considers an error of around $26M of ratepayer funds trifling and not worthy of comment or correction. Coincidentally, this is the amount of the Yaldhurst debt. Not coincidentally, Mr Crombie doesn’t think $13M of ratepayer funds written off at Yaldhurst is significant or comment-worthy either. Where do we find these people ? You have been warned, Councillors.

To justify this sudden $70M increase in spending, the asset management plan helpfully provided some explanations of the scope of the work, and why it was urgent, which is going to haunt Mr Crombie, hopefully all the way to resignation. On Page 160, Aurora explained that “half of the increase is associated with deferred zone substation expenditure for which there is no further opportunity for deferral”.

In the next five years (2020-2022), there is $29M allocated for rebuilding worn out substations in Dunedin (Andersons Bay, Neville St, Smith St, Willowbank) that cannot be deferred. The reason that the substations are not being rebuilt before 2020 is because the major 11kV / 3kV lines that serve the substations are in even worse shape than the very aged substations built in the 1950s and early 1960s. The cables are already failing and have to be replaced even before the substations. Page 156 of the AMP helpfully describes the problem, “These cables are very old … These cables are now at the end of their life as the bronze tapes [that act to retain the gas insulation] are corroded and failing.” Regarding the possibility of failure, the AMP is candid “….have had some gas leaks … Gas leaks are difficult to locate and expense to repair … requires the cable to be out of service for several days for repairs to be made”. In relation to another type of cable, PILC cable, the ever helpful AMP notes, “We have had a number of failures of the Kaikorai Valley cables” [due to the oil impregnated cables leaking, then drying out and failing].

If readers are in any doubt as to how much of a knife edge their power network is being run on, Page 62 (Asset Risks 4.5.3) will spill the Bells all over the sofa : “Perhaps the most significant risk of a catastrophic asset failure relates to our remaining 33kV gas filled cables.”

To conclude, readers, Mr Crombie is simply creating yet more mad hatter conditions at Delta/Aurora with the desperate and inaccurate statement, that tens of millions of unplanned expenditure (the actual cost will be the subject of the next post, out of time and tea tonight !) could be accommodated by simple funding re-arrangement. (Deck chairs on the Titanic, anyone ?). There are more distortions at Delta/Aurora than in a fairground hall of mirrors.

[ends]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: pinterest.com – Danny LuVisi | Grand Theft Otto series, Homer

Mr Crombie, not quite the spent force

Graham Crombie: Review starts Monday, preliminary findings not public by then as Mayor Dave Cull hoped….

### ODT Online Sat, 29 Oct 2016
Crombie: heads could roll
By Vaughan Elder
Jobs could be on the line at Delta and Aurora after claims lives are at risk because of the two companies’ failure to replace dangerous power poles.
Dunedin City Holdings Ltd (DCHL) chairman Graham Crombie yesterday said there could be “consequences” for the board and management of the two council-owned companies if an independent review found their response to the power pole situation in Dunedin and Central Otago had been lacking. Mr Crombie was working through the final stages of appointing an independent party to review the claims yesterday, but was not ready to announce who that party would be because nothing had been signed.
Read more

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OK. So Mr Crombie’s comments in the ODT today (joy oh joy for readers!) do help to force chief executive Grady Cameron and the Aurora/Delta Directors into an unholy corner for their multiple sins.

Understandably, they have turned media shy, no doubt while they consult their lawyers – Every Man for Himself now applies. Will they shop their fellow henchmen.

Watch and wait.

However, stupidly, Mr Crombie admits he was not shocked about the extent of the problem “because everybody knew that”….

WOW, Graham Crombie, chair of DCHL, knew there was a problem.

How soon did he know ?
But hey. Aurora’s asset management plan (AMP) is not a FIX. Mr Crombie is a little confused.

Best he trots out the reports to DCHL from Aurora/Delta which describe – ie quantify and qualify – the extent of the problem, received on his watch (!).
How long have DCHL/Mr Crombie known about VERY SIGNIFICANT non compliance with statutory Health and Safety requirements, and SCALE of risk and endangerment to company staff and the public.

How can any of this be A SURPRISE.
To a professional chairman-director of a council holding company.

Well, in surprising fashion, Mr Crombie states his advice ‘from Aurora and Delta had been the network was safe and he did not believe this was contradicted by Aurora’s asset management plan acknowledging thousands of compromised poles needed replacing’.

Further, ‘He thought the financial effects of replacing thousands of poles could be managed by changes to the timing of Aurora’s planned capital programme.’ Oh dear.

An EXTRAORDINARY statement, Mr Crombie.
As chairman of Dunedin City Holdings Ltd (DCHL), you are responsible to Dunedin City Council (the Shareholder) for KNOWING AND ENSURING that all Council-controlled organisations (CCOs) are compliant —not, that they are LIABILITIES for every Ratepayer and Resident in the district, who it appears are repeatedly picking up the tab for true lack of governance and oversight by the vainglorious Dunedin Mayor and Councillors.

‘Gusty’ Mr Crombie, proverbially thus far, came down in the last rain shower. But he may yet be of public assistance to have the company chief executive and bunch of defunct directors SACKED.

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[Black White] on the nearly 3000 dangerous poles now scattered across the network, John Walsh says: “That’s not evidence. That’s hearsay.”

Delta worker Graeme Jeffrey, in an email to Mayor Dave Cull and councillors, said the companies had “closed their eyes in the pursuit of maximising profit”.

### ODT Online Sat, 29 Oct 2016
Dunedin Insight: Warned, in black and white
History of headaches for Delta
By Chris Morris
The warning was there in black and white. It came in an Otago Daily Times article, published in 1998, blowing the whistle on maintenance cuts across Dunedin and Central Otago’s electricity network. In it, former union delegate Ian Berry cautioned against the “never ending pursuit” of profit by Aurora’s predecessor, Dunedin Electricity Ltd. Unless the practice changed, the consequences for the network would be dire, he warned. […] But, far from rejecting the allegations, then-DEL chief executive John Walsh — later the man in charge of Delta — defended the cuts. […] Fast forward 19 years to the present, and former Delta worker Richard Healey has resigned to blow the whistle again — this time on the dangerous state of 2910 power poles across the network.
Read more

Key figures in Delta and Aurora’s history declined to comment this week, including former chairman Ray Polson, current chief executive Grady Cameron, and long-serving board member Stuart McLauchlan. The ODT asked repeatedly for an interview with Mr Cameron, but he pulled out on Thursday night, saying he had “nothing to add” beyond emailed responses.

Rotten power pole falls and cuts power, Dunedin ODT
Photo: Tyler Christmas 19 Feb 2013

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“The story really is how a culture can shift from ‘we are doing this to provide a safe service to the community’ to ‘Jesus, if I just keep my head down’.” –Richard Healey

### ODT Online Sat, 29 Oct 2016
Informant, Delta poles apart
By Vaughan Elder
Giving up a 35-year career and a healthy pay cheque to blow the whistle was not easy for Dunedin man Richard Healey. But one tragic day loomed large in his decision. In lifting the lid on the serious danger from Aurora Energy’s “neglected and decaying” network, Mr Healey keeps going back to colleague Roger Steel’s death on December 9, 2010. Mr Steel was working on his own at  Millers Flat on a power pole when it toppled over. The fall of more than 20m left him with injuries a coroner said were “immediately and inevitably lethal”. […] Mr Steel’s death was followed in 2014 by an incident in which Vincent Moore suffered left leg fractures and a fractured lumbar vertebra falling from a pole while completing a service connection in Cardrona. […] Once again Delta pleaded guilty and was fined for health and safety breaches and once again Mr Healey said not enough changed at the company.
Read more

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### ODT Online Sat, 29 Oct 2016
Hoping husband did not die in vain
By Lynda van Kempen
Karyn Steel fears safety standards have not improved in almost six years since an untagged, dangerous power pole caused the death of her husband. Delta was fined $75,000 for failing to take all steps to ensure the safety of its employees when lineman Roger Steel (63) died after the concrete power pole he was working on near Millers Flat toppled over, in early December, 2010.
….Following the inquest finding, Delta chief executive Grady Cameron said the company had upgraded and enhanced its work practices “to make sure we never have another workmate in this position again”.
….[Mrs Steel’s] husband had spent 43 years as a maintenance worker on electricity lines and loved his job but talked to her about his concerns over a “lowering of safety standards” at his workplace. The comments by whistleblower Richard Healey echoed those concerns and she admired his bravery in speaking out.
Read more

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### ODT Online Sat, 29 Oct 2016
Regions: Central Otago
Wait to hear pole advice
By Tracey Roxburgh
Delta has responded to an urgent request from the Queenstown Lakes District Council seeking assurance that residents and visitors in the tourist town will be safe in the wake of allegations the company had neglected to replace dangerous poles across the district. What Delta has advised the council, however, will not be made public until next week, after the council has had a chance to consider it. Maps showing dangerous poles in Central Otago and Queenstown-Lakes towns were leaked to the Otago Daily Times this week.
Read more

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What should you do if there is a dangerous power pole near you?
Call Aurora Energy and ask for details about the condition of the pole/s and ask about its replacement plans.
Look out for movement over time, swaying in the wind, cracking, and the tension on the lines to your house increasing to the point where the barge board is damaged.
Contact Aurora immediately if you notice any of the above happening.
Consider not parking your car next to a damaged pole. 

█ Aurora Energy Ltd http://www.auroraenergy.co.nz/
█ Delta Utility Services Ltd http://www.thinkdelta.co.nz/

Alternatively, contact Delta on 0800 433 582

● ODT: Detailed map of dangerous poles at Dunedin
● ODT: Dangerous power poles – Mosgiel
● ODT: Dangerous power poles – Corstorphine and part of South Dunedin
● ODT: Dangerous power poles – North Dunedin and Leith Valley
● ODT: Detailed map of dangerous poles – Central Otago and Queenstown

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Images: teara.govt.nz [source: ODT] – graham crombie, accountant | irational.org – blue white umbrella skeleton, tweaked by whatifdunedin

Heads of Delta/ Aurora/ DCHL/ DCC out to lunch

Link received.
Fri, 28 Oct 2016 at 1:14 p.m.

### zerohedge.com Oct 27, 2016 4:01 PM
Source: sprottmoney.com (blog)
The Establishment Has Rigged the System: It’s Time to Shake Things Up
By Nathan McDonald 
Is the entire system rigged? Can we trust any of it? Yes and no. Large parts of the current “modern” day system we find ourselves living in is undoubtedly rigged against the little man. This is by design – make no doubt about it – but you should not let it rule your life. Because as history has proven time and time again, the true power lies in the people – we just don’t typically know it. The establishment is once again learning this harsh lesson. People are “waking” up at a pace that I have NEVER before seen in my life. […] The MSM has proven itself to be a powerful weapon, but its control is slipping. The alternative media are rising and rising fast. We are becoming the main source of most people’s information, proving once again my point that the power rests in the masses, not the elites.
Read more

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Tonight at Channel 39 News, ODT deputy editor Craig Page tells us what’s in Saturday’s newspaper:

● More on the continuing investigation into the “Delta/Aurora saga”…. ‘neglect of repairs’ means “3000 dangerous poles in Dunedin” need to be replaced within 12 months.

[See Richard Healey’s latest comments on pole numbers at What if? Dunedin]

● DCHL chairman Graham Crombie offers “an explanation of sorts” and says there could be “consequences for Delta staff” down the track.

● Whistleblower Richard Healey “who broke the story at ODT”.

[TV3 first broke the news with Richard Healey at The Story (Newshub)]

● Chris Morris looks back at the history of Delta.

Mr Page says to expect “a lot more headlines out of it in the weeks to come”.

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Related Posts and Comments:
27.10.16 Bev Butler says ‘Come in, Grady’ #LGOIMA #Delta
27.10.16 Delta #EpicPowerFail 3 : Rotten Poles and Greedy Algorithms
25.10.16 Delta #EpicPowerFail 2 : Plaudits to Saunders & Elder : Delta…
22.10.16 DCC struggles with Governance…. Delta/Aurora/DCHL…
21.10.16 Dunedin City Council must hang the companies out to dry
20.10.16 Delta #EpicPowerFail : Delta fulfils Adam Smith’s 1776 Prophecy
19.10.16 Grady Cameron and Graham Crombie : Eyes tightly shut #FAIL
13.10.16 COMPLETE Dis-satisfaction with DCC, DCHL, DVML, DVL, Delta….
9.6.16 Aurora Energy Ltd warned by regulator

█ For more, enter the terms *delta*, *aurora*, *epic fraud* or *dchl* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Images: sprottmoney.com – censored | cathtatecards.com – social mendia without electricity by Leunig

Bev Butler says ‘Come in, Grady’ #LGOIMA #Delta

——– Original message ——–
From: Bev Butler
Date: 27/10/2016 8:44 am (GMT+12:00)
To: Grady Cameron [Delta]
Cc: Sandy Graham [DCC], Elizabeth Kerr
Subject: URGENT LGOIMA request: DELTA stadium corporate box renewal

Thursday 27 October 2016

Dear Mr Cameron

The Forsyth Barr rugby stadium has now been open for over five years and as such the corporate boxes on a five year contract recently came up for renewal.
Given that Delta purchased a corporate box at $45,000 per annum, as outlined in your response below dated 1 July 2011, I request the following:
1. Has Delta renewed their corporate box contract for another five years?
2. If so, what is the new annual cost of Delta’s corporate box?
3. The name of those who made the decision to renew the corporate box contract.
4. A copy of all documents relating to the decision for Delta to renew their corporate box membership.

You have stated below:
“DELTA has a range of commercial sponsorship and advertising arrangements with organisations such as Otago Rugby Football Union, Alexandra Ice Skating Rink, ASB Otago Sports Awards and the arrangements are commercially sensitive between the parties.”

Given that you are claiming commercial sensitivity for declining to release the information re commercial sponsorship and advertising arrangements with the organisations mentioned above, I request the overall total amount Delta is paying in commercial sponsorships and advertising arrangements to the three organisations mentioned, namely the Otago Rugby Football Union, Alexandra Ice Skating Rink, ASB Otago Sports Awards.

Note that by releasing the total amount given to the three organisations, then the “commercial sensitivity” argument would not apply as none of the individual organisations would be able to be identified. A precedent has already been set with the Office of the Ombudsman in a previous complaint I made relating to stadium sponsorships.
The Ombudsman recommended release of the sponsorship information in totality so as not to interfere with the “commercial” arrangements.

I, therefore, expect full co-operation with this urgent request.

Yours sincerely
Bev Butler

———————————————

From: Grady Cameron [Delta]
To: Bev Butler
CC: Sandy Graham [DCC]
Date: Fri, 1 Jul 2011 16:53:34 +1200
Subject: LGOIMA request: DELTA budgets and stadium spending

Dear Bev

Thank you for your enquiry. I refer your questions below and provide the following responses.

DELTA’s Chief Financial Officer is unchanged and is Mr Stephen Wilson.  The role of Chief Financial Officer is being advertised in advance of his planned retirement. The individual who approved the lounge membership application is no longer with DELTA and was not the Chief Financial Officer. As a point of clarification, the term “overzealous” that appeared in the Otago Daily Times report of 9 February was attributed to Mr David Davies and was not made by me.

1. DELTA has made approximately $50,000 of donations to outside organisations over the past three years linked to our Health & Safety related Charity Challenge. Organisations which benefited from these donations included, but were not limited, to:

Alexandra Scouts Group
Cancer Society
Otago SPCA
Otago Community Hospice
Make-A-Wish Foundation of NZ
St John Ambulance Service
Diabetes NZ Otago

In the past three years, DELTA employees have also participated in an annual Volunteers Day:

2011 – Salmon Hatchery spruce-up
2010 – Alexandra Kindergarten tidy-up
2009 – PACT House (Mosgiel) working bee

2. DELTA has a range of commercial sponsorship and advertising arrangements with organisations such as Otago Rugby Football Union, Alexandra Ice Skating Rink, ASB Otago Sports Awards and the arrangements are commercially sensitive between the parties.

3. a) No, DELTA has not spent or allocated any money, except for a corporate box at $45,000 per annum.
b) DELTA has successfully won and completed contracts for the Stadium project to the value of $4,039,267. These were secured under a [competitive] tender process operated by Hawkins Construction and Arrow International Limited. 
c) DELTA is not a party to the Guaranteed Maximum Price Contract for construction of the Forsyth Barr Stadium. Accordingly, your question should be directed to Hawkins Construction or Arrow International Limited. DELTA does not hold any information in relation to the Guaranteed Maximum Price Contract.

4. DELTA’s budgets are contained in the Dunedin City Holdings Statements of Intents which were presented to the Dunedin City Council on 7 February 2011 and are publically available on the Dunedin City Council website at http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/__data/assets/minutes_agenda/0006/166353/ma_fsd_r_dchl_2011_02_07.pdf . I have attached a copy for your information.

5. DELTA’s Annual Reports for the years ended 30 June 2010, 2009 and 2008 are publically (sic) available on the Dunedin City Council website at http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/your-council/dunedin-city-holdings/delta-utility-services-ltd . I have attached copies of the Annual Reports as requested.

Delta Utility Services Ltd – Dunedin City Council

http://www.dunedin.govt.nz

Delta Utility Services Limited is a multi-utility service contractor providing a range of electrical and other services to local authority and private sector clients.

[ends]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Delta #EpicPowerFail 3 : Rotten Poles and Greedy Algorithms

Grady’s old poster (office)

Received from Christchurch Driver [CD]
Wed, 26 Oct 2016 at 11:10 p.m.

Readers, do you know what an algorithm is ? OK, make a brew and consider this while letting the Bells blend with the white stuff : WiseGeek advises that an algorithm is “a set of detailed instructions which results in a predictable end-state” (that’s geek for : “result”), however it also cautions that algorithms are only as good as the instructions given.

WiseGeek goes on to say that examples of the algorithmic, are instructions for assembling a model airplane, or, for the manually challenged among you, a computer programme ie simply, instructions in a set order, designed to perform a specific task….

Now, diving deeper, WiseGeek advises there are a number of different types of algorithm, with such esoteric names, as, “brute force algorithms”, “randomised algorithms”, and even backtracking algorithms (buy one of those quickly Grady !!), and my personal favourite, the “divide and conquer algorithm” (Yes Grady, Mr Crombie has bought one of those and was practising with it in today’s ODT….). Speaking of the ODT, if Vaughan Elder keeps up his sterling work, awards are beckoning for him, and deservedly so.

But the algorithm that Delta prefers and uses is the Greedy Algorithm, which is defined as an algorithm that “attempts to find not only a solution, but to find the ideal solution to any given problem”.

Now readers, stop stamping your feet, spilling the Bells and making the super wines all soggy (no madeira cake for you, ratepayers !). I understand that you don’t want to know about arcane formulas to balance electrical loads and the like, and how could algorithms possibly have anything to do with replacing rotten power poles ?

Within the “asset strategy” department of Delta – yes there is such a thing, and yes, they are six-figure inhabitants of the Delta payroll, there are some computer scientists, who have constructed a greedy algorithm to Grady’s specifications. Within the lines industry, this algorithm is the 8th wonder of the world. It can take a linesman’s power pole condition report, complete with photographs and evidence of rotten bases, and re-classify it from Condition 0 (immediate replacement) to Condition 4, 5, 6. This is a wonderful thing, because it enables Grady and his enablers to say that poles have been “rigorously tested by computer analysis”, and of course, computers are never wrong and are far more accurate than a few crusty old linesmen who only do actual visual inspection.

Your correspondent has been given information that recently, Chorus asked for permission to attach a Telecom line to an aged pole (is there any other sort in Dunedin?). The report from the field was that the pole was knackered. However, the computer had not been consulted, and the strategy department duly ran it through the algorithm, and it returned a classification of 0. Bad computer !! That was not “the ideal result !”. A bit of tough computer love ensued, and the pole was re-run through the algorithm again, and the pole re-emerged with a barely adequate rating of 2. There you go, said strategy, all fixed and ready to roll for Chorus ! “Not quite” said the people whose staff had to risk their lives getting up the pole, the pole is still had it ….regardless of what the algorithm says. Undeterred, the mad scientists of strategy ran the pole through the algorithm again and this time…. it yielded a rating of 4 ! Problem solved ! said the mad scientists, climb as high as you like – hook 10 Telecom lines on there !

The department responsible for the lines staff, then had had enough of the madness, and wrote an email that has become famous within Delta ….it said

“IF THIS POLE GETS RUN THROUGH THE COMPUTER ALGORITHIM AGAIN, THERE IS A VERY STRONG CHANCE THAT IT WILL SPRING TO LIFE AND GROW BRANCHES.”

This is the mad hatters world that Grady Cameron, Parton, Frow, Kempton, McLauchlan have created and presided over at Delta. A March hare would be envious.

If Delta had a belfry, bats would fly out of it.

[ends]

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Related Posts and Comments:
25.10.16 Delta #EpicPowerFail 2 : Plaudits to Saunders & Elder : Delta FunnyMoney
22.10.16 DCC struggles with Governance…. Delta/Aurora/DCHL…
21.10.16 Dunedin City Council must hang the companies out to dry
20.10.16 Delta #EpicPowerFail : Delta fulfils Adam Smith’s 1776 Prophecy
19.10.16 Grady Cameron and Graham Crombie : Eyes tightly shut #FAIL
13.10.16 COMPLETE Dis-satisfaction with DCC, DCHL, DVML, DVL, Delta….
9.6.16 Aurora Energy Ltd warned by regulator

█ For more, enter the terms *delta*, *aurora*, *epic fraud* or *dchl* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: slidesharecdn.com – design open badges University College London | overlay: perdue.edu – utilitypolelodging, tweaked by whatifdunedin

Delta #EpicPowerFail 2 : Plaudits to Saunders & Elder : Delta FunnyMoney

Received from Christchurch Driver [CD]
Mon, 24 Oct 2016 at 11:08 p.m.

Readers, we must again raise our teacups – yes, a bit of condensed milk would be nice, makes the shareholder revenge all the sweeter ! – to Vaughan Elder of the ODT, who rose to the What if? challenge, and lifted the lid (25.10.16) on some astounding revelations at Delta : Management “instructing” staff not to deal with urgent, “compromised” poles but instead, continue with programmed pole replacement. The following is the intellectually threadbare accounting intellect practised by Grady Cameron and the directors (and others) : We only have X funds allocated, and those funds have to replace Y poles and Z number of urgent compromised poles. No one knows the number of Z, but everyone knows Y because we have to publish it in our public records. Therefore we will continue with non-urgent Y, because if we reduce it awkward questions we can’t be bothered answering will be asked, and we will just defer – yet again – urgent work. She’ll be right. There’s not that many Z number poles falling down – we’ve just made a resolution that they are within our risk tolerances – no one’s been killed yet (Oh yes, Steelo, shame about that) – moving on – pass the madeira cake with the almond icing over here will you Trevor ?

Readers, it does appear that Nigel Saunders has confirmed that Delta management are telling staff to break the law, and refusing to put it into writing. Mr Saunders wrote in a memo “line supervisors are currently acting on a verbal instruction only which no-one seems to be willing to back up in writing, and if something goes wrong we all know what happens next”. What happens next in the event of an accident, is that Grady would solemnly pronounce that Procedures Have Not Been Followed, and Immediate Disciplinary Action Has Been Taken, and We Are VERY Sorry About the Failure By Line Staff To Follow Clear & Comprehensive Delta Regulations. (Code: Nothing to do with me, NOT MANAGEMENT’S FAULT….). That Mr Saunders had to put this in a memo and put his neck on the line shows what a toxic, dysfunctional place Delta has become.

If we were in any doubt that Delta and Aurora must be terminated, it came with Mr Saunders next revelation, that even when compromised poles are stabilised the solution actually involved waratahs and number 8 wire. Delta and Aurora must be the laughingstock of the lines industry.

The depth of the arrogance and cynicism displayed by Grady Cameron and directors Parton, Frow, Kempton and McLauchlan towards the shareholders is nowhere more evident than the 2016 accounts :

The directors gave Grady Cameron a massive pay rise for failing to meet 5 of the 8 Financial Objectives set by the Delta board last year; but Grady says in the report “we have increased shareholder equity with a prudent approach to risk and revenue growth”, and we get the euphemism meter off the scale as Grady attempts to explain why operating cash flows, the life blood of the business, are down from the forecast $9.974M to just $3.439M. Grady came up with this pearler, “Operating cash flows were $3.4M for FY16, below the forecasted $10M, due to temporary differences in the timing of receipts from customers.” Grady, would those “customers” be effectively just ONE customer, and would that customer have been Noble Investments, and is the temporary difference in timing, your sub-truthful way of saying that Delta will not receive all of its expected funds until, as the DCHL chairman admitted, until 2024 ? Shall we expect to see this disgraceful quarter truth featuring in your reports until 2024 ?

As well as the debacle over the cash flow, Grady and Delta failed spectacularly on the debt : The objective was debt at $21.728M, but debt is at….$29.165M, which is over $2M MORE than last year, ($26.5M), when Grady was singing the same cheerful song, all is well, we have our debt well in hand.

The truly depressing thing, is that if we look at what 3 financial objectives Delta did achieve, there is no cause for celebration there either :

Net Profit : achieved (just) $4.67m, vs objective of $4.61M. Now as any accountant knows, with turnover of $100M, it will not be hard to adjust the average $8.5M work in progress (WIP) to get whatever profit figure you want, within reason, so we should take no comfort that the $4.67M is a real figure, but that it might suffer an embarrassing reversal next year. (Remember readers, “I’ll be gone, you’ll be gone”…. that refrain in the boardroom must be getting louder….)

Capital Expenditure : Delta achieved its “target” of not spending MORE than $6.421M, by only spending $4.101M. This is an odd measure to gauge the health of a capital intensive business – to gauge how LITTLE the company spends on essential assets needed to perform their work efficiently. It shows the company is very constrained and has almost no capital base of liquid funds or retained earnings to use for capex.

Finally, Dividends : Yes, The target $2.5M DCHL dividend was achieved, because once again, the debt levels went up $2.7M to accommodate this, from $26.5M last year to $29.2M. Directors, if you want to deny this, show us, don’t tell us, and by the way, where is the “Investment in Financial Instrument” of $2.19M recorded as an asset ? Back to the dividend, at $5,000 each, this would have given Dunedin 500 new power poles and a much safer electrical environment. Grady, for all your faff about your environmental performance (heard the news, fleet fuel consumption down from 9.68 to 9.62 l/100km!) – what about the ratepayers’ street environment who have to dodge hundreds of your disgraceful poles with fear and trepidation. The fear and trepidation will soon belong to you – because there will be some waste management of the management waste, to coin a phrase, and it will involve “recycling” you to an “out of region facility”, and “recycling” those dismal directors back to their day jobs.

[ends]

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Related Posts and Comments:
22.10.16 DCC struggles with Governance…. Delta/Aurora/DCHL…
21.10.16 Dunedin City Council must hang the companies out to dry
20.10.16 Delta #EpicPowerFail : Delta fulfils Adam Smith’s 1776 Prophecy
19.10.16 Grady Cameron and Graham Crombie : Eyes tightly shut #FAIL
13.10.16 COMPLETE Dis-satisfaction with DCC, DCHL, DVML, DVL, Delta….
9.6.16 Aurora Energy Ltd warned by regulator

█ For more, enter the terms *delta*, *aurora*, *epic fraud* or *dchl* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: cagle.com – cold comfort by Nate Beeler, tweaked by whatifdunedin

Report from the University Landscape Trenches : Financial shoring collapsing, trouble brewing

Received from Rhodes
Mon, 24 Oct 2016 at 9:14 p.m.

Saturday’s ODT had an interesting article about delays on the troubled University of Otago landscaping project. This article is the canary in the University construction goldmine, as there are other even much larger disputes brewing on current University projects that certainly will become a goldmine for the contractors, to the detriment of the University’s financial health.

Hoarding, University of Otago

Mr Mackay said the complications on the landscaping included “replacing old water, sewage and drainage pipes”. What he did not say is that this work was meant to have been done two summers ago, BEFORE the academic year, but due to the project management, it was not. However, this landscaping project is small beer, there are much bigger problems looming.

The University, in their biggest ever project, at the 11th hour, on the “advice” of a contractor, Fletcher Construction, who we understand did not even finally submit a bid, told the University they could save a few hundred thousand on the $100 million project by deleting the need for a cost control schedule…. that would have severely limited what the contractors could charge for changes and extra work. In a monumental display of incompetence, the University stopped production of the schedule – which was already underway and had to be part paid for anyway and put the drawings and specifications out to tender without a schedule. If the drawings were 100% complete and the University wasn’t to change its mind that would be OK, but the Pope is more likely to preach at Canterbury Cathedral than this happening. Of course, the drawings are woefully incomplete, and the arguments and changes have started. Watch out for Someone from the University Property Services division, in about a year, to be in full dissembling mode about the delays, and how, “even though it’s six months late, it’s still on budget”. If that is the case, the budget has massive doses of incompetency cover built into it !

An additional problem that’s about to come home to roost in the University and Otago Polytechnic’s coffers is insistence, by University Property Services, on the use of “Early Contractor Involvement” (ECI). (Someone at University Property Services has never met a new construction euphemism he did not use or a project delay that he could not justify). Both the University and Polytech on recent large projects have engaged in tender processes where there is no fixed sum, because the documents are far from complete, and the current fashion du jour is to have “early contractor involvement” where the builders are paid to be involved in the design phase, to provide “constructability” expertise. Basically the builders make a submission to say what nice people they are, and advise percentage site overhead and profit margins they would build the project for. The rest of the cost, about 85-90%, is just guesswork. (“Provisional Sums”). This process allows the “tender evaluation team” (mainly the Architect and the University) to choose who they want, without regard to price, because the weighting for “non-price attributes” is a lot more than 50% of the total weighting.

On both the University commerce building project, just started by Naylor Love, and the Polytechnic Hostel project (also won by Naylor Love), this was the process. Both projects are around $20 million all up. Significantly, the architect on both projects was Mason & Wales. There were a number of other consultants in the design teams. The politest way to put the next point is that there appeared to be “confusion” about the proposed early contractor involvement process from the team. It was thought, inexplicably, that this wonderful new system of selecting builders without worrying about price meant not only did they get to choose ones with very high margins who wouldn’t cause problems when the inevitable design problems arose, some consultants also thought that they could charge full fees and offload all of the detailing onto the builder…. which of course did not happen. Builders, in the South Island anyway, do not employ armies of CAD operators who can document bespoke large projects. That is what designers are for…. In both cases, the successful Naylor Love bid was hundreds of thousands of dollars more expensive than lower bids. Also in the case of both bids, the University and the Polytech paid a premium of around $500-600,000 to have the “ECI/ constructability” experience of Naylor Love…. only to find that the advice received was NOT what was expected…. the Polytech project has been now costed by Naylor Love and is $1.5-2.0 million over budget, and the “expert” constructability / ECI advice that the Polytech effectively paid $600,000 for is…. wait for it…. to make the building smaller. Hmmm, expensive and brief advice! Best not tell the Humanities students ! The other unsuccessful contractors may well feel aggrieved about how this process played out, as before they were even allowed to provide a proposal they had to prove their capability and experience to do the work, so in theory all tenderers were equally capable, and there was no logical reason for the favouritism to Naylor Love…. but were there other reasons ? There appears no meaningful financial oversight, the project teams seem a law unto themselves, and the suspicion is that both institutions’ funds are being spent in a very free and easy fashion.

[ends]

—

Related Posts and Comments:
18.7.16 Misero-mercenary at U of O
1.7.16 No one wants to work for U of O
25.9.15 University calling Property Services
28.3.15 University of Otago landscaping
24.7.13 University: Leith flood protection scheme and landscaping
31.5.13 University of Otago development plans
27.5.13 Carisbrook and Leith flood protection
17.11.10 Leith Lindsay Flood Protection Scheme
17.5.10 Campus Master Plan
28.1.10 University of Otago Campus Master Plan

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Carroll St house fire #historicheritage

Tyler Christmas Published on Oct 22, 2016
Dunedin Carroll St fire 2016 [full footage]

my heart gose out to them all
out safe and fire is under control
–Tyler

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Firefighters could not tell whether the smoke alarms in the flat were working because it was so badly damaged, but the neighbouring flat did have working alarms.

### ODT Online Sun, 23 Oct 2016
Woman jumps from burning flat
By Vaughan Elder
A woman had to jump for her life from the second storey of a Dunedin flat as it became engulfed with flames. Five fire appliances were called to the blaze, which started just before noon on Sunday, and “totally destroyed” the Carroll St flat as about 100 onlookers gathered on the street. Senior Station Officer Justin Wafer, of Dunedin Central, said a woman, had to jump from the second storey as flames engulfed the flat in what he called a “significant structure fire”. A man, believed to be the woman’s partner, was on the ground floor when the blaze started and was among three people who caught her after she jumped. […] Mr Wafer praised the actions of those who caught her as “very brave”.
Read more

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NEW ZEALAND FIRE SERVICE
We recommend you install long-life photoelectric type smoke alarms in your home. They may cost a little more but the benefits are significant.
• They provide a about 10 years smoke detection.
• They remove the frustration of fixing the ‘flat battery beep’ at inconvenient times such as at 3 in the morning.
• The cost of replacement batteries for standard alarms means the long-life one effectively pays for itself over its lifetime.
• You don’t have to climb ladders every year to replace batteries.

Your best protection is to have photoelectric smoke alarms in every bedroom, living area and hallway in your home. Install them in the middle of the ceiling of each room.

But, at a minimum, you should install one standard long-life photoelectric type alarm in the hallway closest to the bedrooms.

█ NZFS : Make Your Home and Family Fire Safe Brochure

█ NZFS : More on smoke alarm installation

Related Post and Comments:
15.5.16 Fire Safety at Home : Install long-life photoelectric alarms #bestprotection

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

DCC struggles with Governance…. Delta/Aurora/DCHL in slipslidy mode

More than ever, the Mayor and Councillors look/sound totally STUPID, glib and unthought. That we didn’t ditch the whole Council in the October elections, we can punch ourselves for NOW.

Here is yesterday’s verbose media statement from Aurora Energy chief Grady Cameron. Just stick to the real facts Grady. Answer why (as a former award winning ‘young energy executive of the year’) you have unwittingly compromised Public Safety, Workplace Safety, and Industry Compliance. The Commerce Commission (the regulator) has already been on your tail – so no surprises there! Stop the blither and Man Up.

Aurora Energy urgently reviewing pole maintenance programmes
21 Oct 2016

In light of safety concerns raised earlier this week, Aurora Energy is urgently reviewing its maintenance programmes to identify if there are any outstanding safety risks not already being addressed.
“Specifically, we are re-checking that all poles needing replacement are appropriately tagged, working with the Energy Safety Service on compliance, and reviewing the rate and priorities of the existing pole repair and maintenance programme,” says Chief Executive Grady Cameron.
Aurora Energy is re-checking 2,170 poles earmarked for replacement to confirm they all have the correct safety tag in place as a visual reminder for line workers not to climb. “We are halfway through that process and will have completed remaining re-inspections in the next two weeks. This verification work started on 5 October as part of our ongoing commitment to health and safety.”
The Energy Safety Service has initiated a safety compliance audit of our maintenance programme and we are cooperating fully. It will be carrying out a compliance and safety audit, including a documentation review this month, followed by a site visit in November. “We welcome the opportunity to work with the Energy Safety Service to ensure our risk assessment for the on-going safety of our works programme is optimal,” says Mr Cameron.
By December this year, the company will have completed most of its $4 million pole maintenance and replacement programme, as set out in its annual asset management plan, and will look to allocate more funding in the second half of the year. The Board has asked for an immediate review of the timing and prioritisation of pole replacement. The Board also supports further acceleration and investment in Aurora Energy’s existing pole replacement, repair and inspection programmes to address the replacement backlog and align with industry regulations.
There are 54,000 wooden and concrete poles within the Aurora Energy network. Of these 1,181 are identified for replacement within the next three months and 1,729 for replacement in the next 12 months. Last year, Aurora Energy replaced 770 poles and carried out 8,300 condition inspections.
“Aurora Energy wants to reassure the public that the concerns about poor condition power poles and pole tagging are an urgent priority. We’ve committed more than $400 million to secure the future reliability of our network over the next 10 years,” says Mr Cameron.
Aurora Energy is New Zealand’s sixth largest electricity network, supplying electricity to 86,400 homes, farms and businesses in Dunedin and Central Otago.

[ends] Link

Or, Mr Cameron could have said we’ve failed, we’re broke, and we resign.
Royal we.

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Has Delta’s investment in failed subdivisions come at the cost of investment in core infrastructure. Council previously briefed on backlog of maintenance work, but no indication of anything “approaching the scale that may well now be the case”.

### ODT Online Sat, 22 Oct 2016
Call for heads to roll at Delta
By Vaughan Elder
A leaked internal email has revealed Dunedin City Council-owned Delta this year stopped prioritising work on its most dangerous power poles in favour of other work. […] Delta and Aurora Energy chief executive Grady Cameron declined requests for an interview yesterday […] In the leaked email, which was sent internally last week, Delta project manager Nigel Saunders called for urgent action to address a change in policy which meant “compromised poles” no longer had to be treated as “requiring support immediately”.

Mr Saunders said the change had been stated at numerous meetings, but staff had never been given written instruction of the change.

….[Mr Cameron] did not respond to a question about whether he should resign or whether investment in infrastructure had suffered because of Delta’s failed investments, including at least $13 million in bad debt it accrued over the Yaldhurst subdivision in Christchurch. DCHL chairman Graham Crombie did not respond to a request for comment yesterday.
Read more

****

WorkSafe not advised by Delta of issues concerning pole replacement, only information had was from whistleblower Richard Healey.

### ODT Online Sat, 22 Oct 2016
Worksafe starts looking into Delta
By Vaughan Elder
Worksafe has started a safety review of Delta after a whistleblower raised serious concerns over the lines network it maintains. A Worksafe spokesman said its responsible division, the Energy Safety Service, had begun an immediate documentation audit, which would be followed by an on-site review at Delta in the middle of next month. It said its review was started following an interview with former Delta worker Richard Healey, who has raised serious concerns about the state of the network. 
Read more

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Related Posts and Comments:
21.10.16 Dunedin City Council must hang the companies out to dry
20.10.16 Delta #EpicPowerFail : Delta fulfils Adam Smith’s 1776 Prophecy
19.10.16 Grady Cameron and Graham Crombie : Eyes tightly shut #FAIL
13.10.16 COMPLETE Dis-satisfaction with DCC, DCHL, DVML, DVL, Delta….
9.6.16 Aurora Energy Ltd warned by regulator

█ For more, enter the terms *delta*, *aurora*, *epic fraud* or *dchl* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: Aurora 2015 Annual Report (detail from cover by whatifdunedin)

Vandervis apologises to Mayor Cull #councilpowerplays

[DCC profiles]

█ Refer to the Agenda for the Council meeting on Tuesday 25 October 2016.

Dave Cull initially offered highest vote scoring councillor Lee Vandervis the chairship of Hearings as well as two deputy chair positions in Infrastructure and in the Bylaws and Regulatory area. Cr Vandervis turned these down thinking Hearings would lie outside Council. However, Cr Vandervis received encouragement from various colleagues to pursue what was offered…. After receiving clarification from senior staff the councillor wrote an apology to Mayor Cull in the hope of securing the positions. We await further news.

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Mayor – Dave Cull
Deputy Mayor – Cr Chris Staynes

Mayor Cull says (via the Agenda and associated reports):

COMMITTEES OF COUNCIL

6. I establish the following Committees as committees of the whole:
a) Finance and Council Controlled Organisations
b) Community and Culture
c) Infrastructure Services and Networks
d) Planning and Environment
e) Economic Development.

7. I further establish the following Subcommittees, with some membership to be confirmed:
a) Hearings Subcommittee (directly to Council)
b) Bylaws Subcommittee (directly to Council)
c) Audit and Risk Subcommittee (directly to Council)
d) Grants Subcommittee (reporting to Community and Culture)
e) CEO Appraisal Subcommittee. (directly to Council)

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CHAIRS AND DEPUTY CHAIRS FOR COMMITTEES OF COUNCIL

Committees

Finance and CCOs
Chair: Cr Mike Lord | Deputy Chair: Cr Doug Hall

Community and Culture
Chair: Cr Aaron Hawkins | Deputy Chair: Cr Rachel Elder, Cr Marie Laufiso

Infrastructure Services and Networks
Chair: Cr Kate Wilson | Deputy Chair: Cr Jim O’Malley

Planning and Environment
Chair: Cr David Benson-Pope | Deputy Chair: Cr Damian Newell, Cr Conrad Stedman

Economic Development
Chair: Cr Chris Staynes | Deputy Chair: Cr Andrew Whiley, Cr Christine Garey

Subcommittees

Hearings
Chair: [Cr Kate Wilson] | Deputy Chair: To be confirmed

Bylaws
Chair: Cr Andrew Whiley | Deputy Chair: To be confirmed

Grants
Chair: Cr Aaron Hawkins | Deputy Chair: To be confirmed

Audit and Risk
Chair: To be confirmed but an independent member | Deputy Chair: To be confirmed

CEO Appraisal
Chair: The Mayor | Deputy Chair: Cr Chris Staynes

8. I have made the following Councillor appointments to Community Boards:
Mosgiel Taieri Community Board – Cr Mike Lord
Strath Taieri Community Board – Cr Christine Garey
West Harbour Community Board – Cr Aaron Hawkins
Saddle Hill Community Board – Cr Conrad Stedman
Otago Peninsula Community Board – Cr Andrew Whiley
Waikouaiti Coast Community Board – Cr Jim O’Malley

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LOCAL GOVERNMENT LEGISLATION – BRIEFING FOR THE INAUGURAL COUNCIL MEETING 2016

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. Clause 21 of Schedule 7 of the Local Government Act 2002 requires that, at the inaugural meeting of the Council and Community Boards following the triennial election, the Chief Executive Officer must provide a general explanation of the following legislation:
a) The Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987;
b) The Local Authorities (Members’ Interests) Act 1968;
c) Sections 99, 105 and 105A of the Crimes Act 1961;
d) The Secret Commissions Act 1910; and
e) The Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013.

RECOMMENDATIONS

That the Council:
a) Notes the advice regarding key legislation that applies to members of Council, its Committees and Community Boards.

█ Related Council report
[worth skimming the discussion of each Act as it applies to Councillors]

****

Fri, 21 Oct 2016
ODT: Rejected position; apology ensued
The Dunedin City Council’s committee appointments may be in for a change before they have even been approved, after Cr Lee Vandervis refused a role then realised it could have been “an acceptable position after all”. Cr Vandervis apologised to Mayor Dave Cull after realising a hearings committee role he had declined “as a sop to council involvement” was in fact a more responsible appointment. But by that time, the role had been changed and offered to another councillor. Cont/

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Dunedin City Council must hang the companies out to dry

Serious state of neglect in Aurora’s electricity network has potential to kill residents and leave Dunedin with a power crisis

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AGAIN, why is the Otago Faily Times not taking out Grady Cameron and Graham Crombie from them there poles.

### ODT Online Fri, 21 Oct 2016
Fears poles could kill
By John Lewis
….Aurora Energy has said it would invest more money into its pole maintenance and replacement programme, and had contacted the Energy Safety Service to organise a compliance and safety audit, in a bid to ensure Aurora Energy’s infrastructure met safety requirements.
….[Richard] Healey said the Electricity Safety Act 2010 stated power poles that  were in poor condition had to be red-tagged and classified as either “Condition One  — not fit for design load” which meant it could fall down if the wind blows; or “Condition Zero — not fit for actual load”, which meant it could fall down without any environmental influences.
….“In total, there are about 3200 Condition One and Condition Zero poles. That’s a concern. The magnitude of the problem is fairly large.” [Richard Healey]
….Mr Healey said another big concern was the North City Two power cable, a 33,000 volt power cable which feeds the Dunedin city centre. The cable had been daily leaking about two litres of oil, used to insulate the cable,  for the past six years. There had been “token” efforts to find where the oil was going.
Read more + Videos

****

“In terms of proximity to schools, hospital, rest homes… it is just out of control.” –Richard Healey

Delta had not advised WorkSafe of the pole replacement issue.

### Stuff.co.nz Last updated 18:45, October 20 2016
Dunedin lines company Delta under audit after whistleblower’s claims
By Jamie Small, Hamish McNeilly and Michael Hayward
WorkSafe has started an audit of lines company Delta after a whistleblower claimed its power poles were unsafe. A WorkSafe spokesman said the “immediate documentation audit” would be followed by an on-site review of Delta in mid-November. Delta, a Dunedin and Otago lines company, came under fire after former manager-turned-whistleblower Richard Healey said its power poles were neglected and dangerous.
….The Worksafe spokesman said it was not yet known when the audit would end. Energy Safety, a division of WorkSafe, is the national regulator for electrical safety and will conduct the audit. The audit will look at Delta’s safety management system and its performance. Identification, management and replacement practices for damaged poles would be part of the audit.
….WorkSafe was unable to comment on whether other lines companies in New Zealand had similar problems with rotting poles. All major lines companies contacted by Stuff said they had no problem.
Read more

****

### channel39.co.nz Thu, 20 Oct 2016
Delta gets flack over neglected poles
A southern electricity company is under scrutiny for allegedly failing to repair and replace dangerous power poles. A random sample reportedly revealed that 99% of poles needing replacement within a year didn’t have the required red warning tags on them. Delta manages the electricity network in Dunedin and Central Otago and is part of the Dunedin City Council’s financial arm.
Ch39 article + Video

****

Earlier story, the LINESMEN’S VOICES…..

### ODT Online Mon, 12 Sep 2016
Linesmen suggest powerpoles and lines a danger
By John Lewis
Electricity linesmen say it is only a matter of time before someone is killed by Dunedin’s decaying power network, after several poles and lines were downed by strong gales last week.
….A person from the industry, who declined to be named, said he and his colleagues were becoming increasingly concerned about the safety of the city’s network, particularly following the strong gales which buffeted the area on Wednesday.
….Another anonymous person, who appears to work in the industry, agreed. They sent an email to the Otago Daily Times expressing grave concerns about the condition of the city’s ageing power poles and lines, which were being severely damaged by “years of under-investment in the Aurora network”.
Read more

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WorkSafe New Zealand
Contact WorkSafe 0800 030 040
█ http://www.worksafe.govt.nz/worksafe

Energy Safety
Part of WorkSafe New Zealand, Energy Safety acts as the regulator for ensuring the safe supply and use of electricity and gas in New Zealand. Energy Safety is responsible for providing an effective investigation, compliance, enforcement, and conformance regime for achieving electrical and gas safety outcomes.
█ http://www.energysafety.govt.nz/

Note: On Monday 4 April 2016, the new Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA) came into effect. HSWA repeals the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992, with immediate effect.

—

Related Posts and Comments:
20.10.16 Delta #EpicPowerFail : Delta fulfils Adam Smith’s 1776 Prophecy
19.10.16 Grady Cameron and Graham Crombie : Eyes tightly shut #FAIL
13.10.16 COMPLETE Dis-satisfaction with DCC, DCHL, DVML, DVL, Delta….
9.6.16 Aurora Energy Ltd warned by regulator

█ For more, enter the terms *delta*, *aurora*, *epic fraud* or *dchl* in the search box at right.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: bbc.com – bear, tweaked by whatifdunedin

Delta #EpicPowerFail : Delta fulfils Adam Smith’s 1776 Prophecy

Received from Christchurch Driver [CD]
Thu, 20 Oct 2016 at 11:28 p.m.

Readers

There is no time for a Choysa tonight, we must address matters that have burst upon the national consciousness, at last.

The carefully constructed electoral feel-good fiction of Mayor Cull came crashing down on TV3 last night, like a rotten, toppling power pole crushing a car….(sound familiar, readers?). CEO Grady Cameron was a televisual train wreck, stammering, sweating profusely, looking anywhere but at the reporter grilling him, failing to answer some questions, then digging himself deeper on the ones he did answer. This train wreck must surely be a fatal one. Like all fatalities, decency would require that we look away, but there was a morbid fascination to see Grady bury himself, and his career at Delta. TV3 promised “this is not going away” and all Dunedinites who walk within 8 metres of a power pole owe a debt to TV3 for this. Unlike the sycophants at National Radio concerning the Delta “breakthrough” at Noble, TV3 couldn’t be manipulated into reporting deceptions.

And where was the ODT with this story that headlined on national news ? Nowhere. A complete silence. Editor Stewart, you make us sick. Editorial independence, never a strong point at the ODT, now looks to be completely eliminated with respect to DCC matters…. because the new CEO was the chief sidekick and enabler for the mayoral fiction that “financial dangerous messes” at DCHL and DCC were but a distant memory. In fact not only did the ODT prefer the front page ‘headline’ of an “Intimate visual recording” that ordinarily would have barely rated a paragraph in the court news, it also played a sick joke on readers by giving page 5 coverage about lightning striking a retirement village. Cynically, the article went on to acknowledge that an electrician said this wasn’t common – he knew of 6 incidents in 40 years. Delta whistleblower Richard Healey, of course, could name 6 fallen power poles that occurred within a month in Dunedin. Mr Cameron and Mr Crombie, as the ODT headline said, “A frightening bolt from the blue” … is coming for YOU.

It is clear, it seems, that all chest puffing about the tens of millions of Delta and Aurora dividends paid to DCC since the late 1990s (promoted by everyone from CEO Bidrose, DCHL Directors to Mayor Cull) was just that – puffery. Asset replacement has been deferred for a very long time, and has been aided and abetted with inept directors such as Kempton, McLauchlan, Parton, and before them, Polson and Coburn. (Note, this is a far from exhaustive list !), who either did not have the integrity to say to Council to take a hike on the dividends because the priority is a functioning electricity network, or were out of their depth, and resorted to an accounting approach and signed off on capital expenditure that bore no relation to reality. These directors expected that they would not suffer any consequences. “I’ll be gone, you’ll be gone” in the famous words of the 2015 John Kay treatise, Other People’s Money (highly recommended, readers !).

The alleged profits and dividend payments from Delta and Aurora, can be seen now as defined in the 2007 exposé, The Black Swan, as nothing more than “profits were simply cash borrowed from destiny, with some random payback time”. The directorial trick was to have departed when the music stopped and payback time arrived.

Mayor Cull must stop his bromance with the dismal Mr McLauchlan, who, as it has been pointed out in recent threads, has been present at the DCC trough for every major DCHL debacle since his appointment in 2007. Mr McLauchlan was instrumental in appointing Mr Cameron as CEO in 2009. A number of people can confirm that Mr McLauchlan told anyone who would listen in 2008 that he had found this excellent young executive, Grady Cameron, who apparently was far, far better than then present incumbent John Walsh. Another failure, Mr McLauchlan, one that has cost the city tens of millions, if not nine figures. Mr McLauchlan is on the outer at the University, and the DCC has shown some good sense by introducing director term limits so he is out next year. Mayor Cull, don’t wait for next year, show some leadership and ditch him, Kempton, Parton and Mr Crombie now. At least then you can say to the inquiry that you’ve done something. (And yes, there will be an inquiry that you will not be able to influence, unlike the another recent Delta inquiry).

The truly amazing point is that if Mr Healey’s allegations are true (and this correspondent has been given credible information that Mr Healey can prove everything he alleges), then yes-man-in-chief Grady has presided over some amazing deceptions that trump even the lies and deceptions at the Noble subdivision. How could a functioning competent and credible organisation allow the sudden and false misclassification of thousands of rotten and dangerous power poles from rotten to robust ? The answer is that Delta is dysfunctional, incompetent and corrupt and must be stripped from top to bottom.

Adam Smith said it best in 1776 :

“The directors of such companies, however, being the managers rather of other people’s money than of their own, it cannot be expected, that they should watch over it with the same anxious vigilance with which the partners in a private copartnery frequently watch over their own… negligence and profusion must always prevail, more or less”.

Time to stop the negligence and profusion of waste and incompetence, and make Delta a department of the Dunedin City Council. Cr Lee Vandervis, who has warned about the impending Delta disasters for years, and stated publicly in the election campaign that he strongly favoured a return to direct council control of Delta, has been proven to be right.

[ends]

█ For more, enter the terms *delta*, *aurora*, *epic fraud* or *dchl* in the search box at right.

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References:

● John Anderson Kay is a visiting professor of economics at the London School of Economics and a fellow of St John’s College, Oxford University. He is a director of several public companies and contributes a weekly column to the Financial Times. In his book Other People’s Money: The Real Business of Finance (2015), Kay demonstrates “an ability to explain the role in the 2007-08 financial crisis of such concepts as credit default swaps, collateralized debt obligations and moral hazard… [He] is at his best in reminding us that the financial system is still fragile and in explaining that more regulation is not the answer… We can applaud his call for a cultural change that will enhance ethical standards and put the customer first.” —Wall Street Journal

● The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable (2007) is a book by the essayist, scholar, philosopher and statistician Nassim Nicholas Taleb. It focuses on the extreme impact of certain kinds of rare and unpredictable events (outliers) and humans’ tendency to find simplistic explanations for these events retrospectively. This theory has since become known as the black swan theory. The book also covers subjects relating to knowledge, aesthetics, and ways of life, and uses elements of fiction in making its points. The author frequently shares anecdotes from his own life to elaborate his theories. The first edition spent 36 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list. The book is part of Taleb’s four volume philosophical essay on uncertainty, titled the Incerto.

● An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, generally referred to by its shortened title The Wealth of Nations, is the magnum opus of the Scottish economist and moral philosopher Adam Smith. First published in 1776, the book offers one of the world’s first collected descriptions of what builds nations’ wealth, and is today a fundamental work in classical economics. By reflecting upon the economics at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the book touches upon such broad topics as the division of labour, productivity, and free markets.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: Delta 2016 Annual Report, page 63 illustration (detail tweaked by whatifdunedin)

Grady Cameron and Graham Crombie : Eyes tightly shut #FAIL

The What if? Dunedin team has received repeat ‘word’ in the last 24 months from disgruntled ratepayers and residents, as well as senior personnel inside and outside Delta Utility Services / Aurora Energy…. (Otago and Canterbury).

Whistleblower Richard Healey is not alone [Story newshub.co.nz]

That Mr Healey was “escorted from his workplace of seven years” speaks volumes about the sad-arsed top tier trougher and ‘Board of Directors’ that prop up the two Dunedin City Council-owned companies [Luggate, Jacks Point, Yaldhurst, civil construction and contract fails, property speculation, joint venture quackery and rorting, vehicle pool and equipment indulgences at mates rates and for ‘friends’, exorbitant chief executive salary rise with bonuses, top heavy over-paid management, ratepayer subsidised tender bids, a crippled if not completely broken electricity network, anyone?] ….and annual subvention payments to the multimillion-dollar-loss-making Dunedin stadium.

Does that sound competent.

Wide public knowledge of the state of the ill-managed electricity network apparently hasn’t assaulted the senses of our Award-winning young executive Grady Cameron or indeed the short and stout DCHL chairman Spongebob Crombie.

Thanks to Media Man for the tweet alert earlier this evening.

#Dunedin #NZ #Delta @whatifdunedin @clarecurranmp https://t.co/q6YGQwlb8e

— Media Man (@TheWarRoomNZ) October 19, 2016

—

“No guarantees” for the public or the workers [Story newshub.co.nz]

### newshub.co.nz Wed, 19 Oct 2016 7:25 p.m.
Source: Story at TV3
Ex-manager blows lid on ‘dangerous, toppling’ power poles
By Jendy Harper
A former manager in the electricity industry has quit his job to go public over the state of New Zealand’s power poles, which he says are toppling from neglect. Last week Richard Healey quit his job at Delta, which manages the electricity network in Dunedin and Central Otago, and was escorted from his workplace of seven years. He called Story after he left the building and said he had resigned over the rundown and unsafe state of the electricity network in his patch, and he wanted to go public about it. […] Whistleblower Mr Healey has since met with Energy Safety, a division of Worksafe, and they will follow up on the matters he has raised.
Read more + Video (full Story report)

“A decaying and dangerous network” [Story newshub.co.nz]

—

Related Posts and Comments:
13.10.16 COMPLETE Dis-satisfaction with DCC, DCHL, DVML, DVL, Delta….
9.6.16 Aurora Energy Ltd warned by regulator

█ For more, enter the terms *delta*, *aurora*, *epic fraud* or *dchl* in the search box at right.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

‘Low inflation’ v House price inflation

[Japan Times]

### NZ Herald Online 12:00 PM Tuesday Oct 18, 2016
Economy
No inflation? So why doesn’t it feel like it?
By Liam Dann – NZ Herald business editor at large
If yesterday’s Consumer Price Index, showing just 0.2 per cent inflation in the past year didn’t match your experience of rising prices, fear not, there is a new set of data that could offer a more realistic reflection of Kiwi household costs. The CPI for the year to September came in slightly higher than the predictions of most economists but still takes the economy dangerously close to deflation – a phenomenon where falling price expectations start to suppress economic growth. […] Meanwhile, the Household Living-costs Price Index (HLPI) gets much less attention from economists but has been designed over the past three years to reflect the fact that real world inflation varies greatly depending on your household wealth and expenditure, Matt Haigh [Statistics NZ consumer prices manager] said. It offers data for specific sub-sections of New Zealand such as beneficiaries, Maori, superannuitants, five different income groupings and five expenditure groups. In doing so it captures inequalities of price inflation which the CPI does not. So for example rent, which was up 3.4 per cent for the year in Auckland, is factored into the CPI with a weighting of 10 per cent. But, said Haigh, in reality for many renters it is likely to be more like 40 per cent of total expenditure. That weighting is more accurately reflected in the HLPI – especially in the lower income groups.
Read more

█ On November 8 Statistics New Zealand will provide its first live quarterly update for the HLPI data, with details for the year to September, and it should provide more insight for those looking at inflation from a social or political perspective. Backdated HLPI data for the year to September 2015 is already available on the Statistics NZ website.

****

Deflationary cycle web [World Cycles Institute]

For many New Zealanders the low inflation story doesn’t stack up with daily experience. That’s because one of the largest costs we face in life, house price inflation, continues to rise more than anything else.

### NZ Herald Online 6:41 AM Tuesday Oct 18, 2016
Liam Dann: Inflation now at dangerously low level
OPINION Inflation data due today is tipped to show the economy skating dangerously close to deflation. Economists’ forecasts for the September quarter Consumer Price Index have inflation falling in the past three months and now only just above zero on an annualised basis. Most economists are picking it will come in at 0.1 or 0.2 per cent for the year to September 30 – down from 0.4 per cent in the year to June 30. The fall is expected to be driven by lower transport costs as oil slumped again in the quarter while housing costs are likely to be the largest rising category. Persistently low inflation is considered one of just a few dark spots in another otherwise rosy economic picture, although it is consistent with a number of other economies right now.
Read more

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Go Bus exploitation of migrants?

Google Street View – 658 Princes St, Dunedin [Owner: DCC City Property]

“They had their clothes all ready hanging up in the windows which could be seen from Princes St.” –Go Bus complainant

### ODT Online Mon, 17 Oct 2016
Migrants housed illegally
By Vaughan Elder
Go Bus has been accused of exploitation after it illegally housed migrant workers in an office building at its Dunedin depot early last year. The Tramways Union, which represents workers at the site, said the housing of workers, believed to be Filipinos, at the depot was part of a wider problem where Go Bus was employing foreign workers to keep wages low. The workers were moved after the Dunedin City Council, which owns the building, informed Go Bus it was illegal under the district plan for people to live in commercial premises “due to fire risk and other safety factors.
Read more

Go Bus South Island operations director Nigel Piper initially said “three perhaps four” migrant workers were housed in the building for less than a week in January last year.”

█ Why has the matter taken this long to surface as news ??????

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Battle of the hotels : DCC meat in the sandwich (unedifying)

Cr Hilary Calvert emailed the following questions to senior council officers on Sunday, 16 September 2016 at 1:20 p.m., with regards to the DCC-owned parking area in Filleul St, proposed as the site for a new privately developed hotel.

[Staff names have been removed. -Eds]

Enterprise Dunedin provides part reply on Friday, 7 October 2016, at 5:03 p.m.

Q: How many car parks will be lost if this project goes ahead, and what would be the loss of revenue to the DCC?

A: The number of car parks that may be lost cannot be accurately determined at this point in time. The next stage in the project following the due diligence period will provide that level of detailed information.

Q: What development contribution and/or rates relief was provided on the Chief Post Office site, in total, for that site?

A: Enterprise Dunedin does not have this information. I will forward the request to Finance for them to respond.

Q: How many first class beds are we short of in Dunedin according to your information? Does the industry agree with your assessment of what we are short of?

A: In the 2012 evidence for the Resource Consent Application for Betterways Ltd, Stephen Hamilton’s (Horwath Asia Pacific Ltd) ‘Market Gap Report’ indicated “the need for an internationally branded 5 star hotel and another 4 star plus hotel for Dunedin to remain competitive with Tier 1 and Top Tier 2 destinations is 150-250 rooms”.

No reply has been received, we understand, for this fourth question which was directed to another senior council officer:

Q: What is the number of parks we will be losing as a result of … likely central city changes such as bus hub and cycleways, in the vicinity of the central city within the range of those who would park and walk to their work close to the Filleul St site (maybe Moray Place south, Princes St and George St to the outer end of the Golden Block, seaward to the far side of Cumberland)?

DCC Webmap – Filleul St council-owned parking area (shaded)

Furthermore, after noting public concerns about the loss of car parks, an OIA request by Hilary Calvert was submitted to Sandy Graham, Group Manager Corporate Services, on Friday, 14 October 2016 at 10:28 a.m.

Re: OIA Parks new hotel [Filleul Street]
Q: Would it be possible to get information from [City Property] about how many parks there are on this property and any affected by the sale i.e. any contiguous property on which DCC has parks.

Reply is pending.

****

BELATED NEWS—
Mr Tosswill (NZ Horizon Hospitality Group Ltd – incorporated 20 Jan 2016) has some competition, as does DCC on what it knows or chooses not to reveal……

There’s only ONE WINNER, it’s not likely to be DCC.
Market research shows Mrs Hagaman is quite correct.

“Ratepayers need to know the region’s five-star market is very small.”
–Lani Hagaman, Scenic Circle

### ODT Online Sat, 15 Oct 2016
Five-star hotel planned; site, height unclear
By Dene Mackenzie
The Scenic Circle Group is planning a five-star hotel in Dunedin but the company will not reveal where it will build the $34 million 120-room hotel, or its height. The hotel would have restaurants, bars, conference rooms and a luxury day spa. The hotel group, owned by Earl and Lani Hagaman, has owned and operated the 178-room, 4.5-star Dunedin Scenic Hotel Southern Cross since 1984 and, in 2003, built the 121-room four-star Scenic Hotel Dunedin City. […] Mrs Hagaman yesterday  launched stinging criticism of the council and its involvement with Mr Tosswill. She said she advised the council about Scenic’s plans for a five-star property more than three months ago and was surprised the council entered into an exclusive deal with another developer.
Read more

DCC Webmap – Scenic Circle / Hagaman properties (shaded), The Exchange

—

Related Posts and Comments:
● 5.10.16 Dunedin bauble #votecatcher
● 4.10.16 The Demon Duck freak show of partial ‘Civic’ information! Before voting closes! #Dunedin
11.1.16 Un hôtel. Dunedin.
19.8.15 Hotels ? Business ? [DCC lost +++152 fleet vehicles] —Cull in charge of building chicken coops, why ?
1.4.14 HOTEL Town Hall… Another investment group, Daaave’s pals from the communist state?

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

DCHL —Which ‘Infinity’ were Councillors sold on #funnybusiness

ODT 13.10.16 (page 12)

—

The published reply has no direct bearing on Russell Garbutt’s enquiry.

● INFINITY YALDHURST LIMITED (5886102)
Incorporation Date: 09 Feb 2016
Address for service:
Jackson Valentine Limited, Level 3, 258 Stuart Street, Dunedin 9016
http://www.companies.govt.nz/co/5886102

● INFINITY INVESTMENT GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED (1004601)
Incorporation Date: 06 Dec 1999
Address for service:
Jackson Valentine Limited, Level 3, 258 Stuart Street, Dunedin 9016
http://www.companies.govt.nz/co/1004601

● INFINITY FINANCE AND MORTGAGE LIMITED (5920307)
Incorporation Date: 17 Mar 2016
Address for service:
Infinity Finance and Mortgage Limited, 12a Fovant Street, Russley, Christchurch 8042
http://www.companies.govt.nz/co/5920307

—

Related Post and Comments:
22.9.16 DCC : Delta deal 1 Aug 2016 Council meeting (non-public) #LGOIMA

█ For more, enter the term *delta*, *dchl*, *infinity*, *noble* or *epic fraud* in the search box at right.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

‘Visual pole-ution’ @Christchurch —says sexy muppet

Traffic lights going in at High and Tuam Sts [facebook.com]

1NEWS Video

RNZ Checkpoint with John Campbell
Thu, 13 Oct 2016
18 traffic lights fitted out at CHCH intersection Link
A single intersection in the Christchurch CBD has been fitted with 18 traffic lights – bafflying passersby.
Audio | Download: Ogg MP3 (duration 1′ 29″)

****

“Christchurch wants to compete on an international scale well, we haven’t re-built the cathedral but this corner is all sorted.” –Sam Crofskey, C1 Espresso cafe owner

### NZ Herald Online 8:31 AM Thu, 13 Oct 2016
Traffic light madness in central Christchurch
Source: NZ Herald
Eighteen traffic light poles have been set up in one of Christchurch’s quietest intersections, and at least one local says it causes noise to his eyes. The intersection of High and Tuam Streets was traffic-light free before the earthquakes. But for the past 18 months, council contractors have been slowly and steadily erecting traffic light poles in the tightly condensed area.
C1 Espresso cafe owner Sam Crofskey’s business has been on the corner for the past 20 years and is yet to see one crash. The council shouldn’t be surprised that it would get hassled for creating such an eyesore, he said.
“They’ve been doing this one block for 18 months. And we all take the piss about how long this takes, but 18 months? The money that is getting poured into this kind of stuff, oh, I would do a better job [on council].” … “I guess they’re trying to build it for the future. Eighteen sets of traffic lights, and they all do different things: there’s one for people crossing, bicycles, vehicles and trams, so there’s no doubt that someone has thought it out but it might have been a bit early to jump the gun.”
Christchurch City Council could not provide the cost of the traffic poles, nor explain why 18 traffic signals were needed to control the intersection when contacted by Fairfax yesterday.
Read more

****

“It’s such a [visually] noisy thing to look at . . . it’s peak traffic management.” –Crofskey

### The Press Online (via Stuff) Last updated 14:13, 13 Oct 2016
‘Overkill’ central Christchurch intersection has 18 lights [+ Video]
By Jack Fletcher and Michael Hayward
A central Christchurch intersection will soon be controlled by 18 traffic light poles, with one local business owner reminded of the busy streets of Tokyo. The lights, at the corner of High and Tuam streets, will guide pedestrian, cycle, vehicle and tram traffic. They were yet to be installed, but locals and urban design experts have criticised the traffic management plans.
Other central city intersections visited on Wednesday have about nine lights.
Read more 

Oldman 5 hours ago:
How the hell will we know where to look?

Fredup 5 hours ago:
Well, it wasn’t City Care. All their bosses are away on holiday in their council $50,000 utes with the boat or caravan behind it.

CHL 5 hours ago:
Must have been designed by the same traffic engineers who built traffic islands and installed calming measures in a quiet residential street in South Dunedin so that fire trucks could not acccess the street and a perfectly good street was turned into a one way street and had a compulsory stop at one end. People with brains but absolutely no common sense.

****

RNZ Published on Aug 21, 2016
Christchurch Dilemmas – City Centre – Portland Families
Episode 3 of Christchurch Dilemmas looks at the city centre. This video looks at the Pearl District of Portland – a previously run-down industrial area of the inner city, which has been transformed by putting families first. See all the videos and have your say at http://chchdilemmas.co.nz.

Christchurch Dilemmas is a new series coming soon from Frank Film, the creators of When a City Falls. Funded by NZ On Air and created with assistance from Radio New Zealand, the six-part series examines the major decisions facing Christchurch 5 years on from the earthquakes that devastated the city.

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

COMPLETE Dis-satisfaction with DCC, DCHL, DVML, DVL, Delta….

Fake it til you make it, and hey, don’t lift the marigolds.

Sorry Daaave, looks like a D for your council’s governance. —Actually, for the avoidance of euphemism, make that D- and lower for DIRE Performance, accompanying Drivel, and Diabolical treatment of Residents and Ratepayers in the aftermath of emergency situations.

Listening to Yes People and your dwindling voter base isn’t your best hope to resolve ongoing multimillion-dollar losses being sustained by a couple of the council-owned companies, to the point where the holding company led by chairman Crombie, fronts with a “qualified audit” only on presentation of its annual report(?) to Council.

[In July 2015 Graham Crombie was appointed to the Commerce Commission as an Associate Commissioner for a five year term.]

Damages to employment, liveability and opportunity in a No-growth city keep stacking.

—

“It is also yet another example of good public service jobs being lost from our smaller towns and cities.” –PSA spokeswoman

### ODT Online Thu, 13 Oct 2016
ACC jobs to go in Dunedin
By Vaughan Elder
After consulting with staff since June, the decision had been made to relocate all the roles over the next 12 to 18 months to the larger Christchurch office and have “one centre for consistent customer and rehabilitation services across the Southern region”.
Read more

****

Asked about people who continued to be negative about the city, he said: “Negativity is an attitude, it’s not a fact.”

### ODT Online Thu, 13 Oct 2016
Survey ‘shows Dunedin on right track’
By Vaughan Elder
A survey showing Dunedin residents feel increasingly positive about their city shows the city is on the “right track”, Mayor Dave Cull says. […] the annual survey was not all good news. Last year’s June flood was picked as a reason for increasing dissatisfaction with the city’s stormwater system [down 13 points to 43%]. Satisfaction rates also fell when it came to public toilets, the suitability of the city’s roads for cycling and the availability of parks in the central city.
Read more

[Chief executive Sue Bidrose] said some of the areas where there had been negative results this year and in past surveys correlated to negative media coverage in the Otago Daily Times.

*1577 survey responses from 5400 residents randomly selected from the electoral roll,

The Talking Head (without helmet, unprepared)

█ Dunedin City Council (media release)
Residents’ Opinion Survey released 12 Oct 2016. Link

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: cdn.guardian.ng – marigold, tweaked by whatifdunedin

What local body elections ?

Ecologist appointed to Dunedin City Council
News via Art Festival aside at ODT

### ODT Online Tue, 11 Oct 2016
Won a painting, now for a wall
A new Dunedin resident has won a painting auction; now he just needs a wall to hang the artwork on. Aalbert Rebergen recently moved to Dunedin and his admiration for the work of local artist Frank Gordon prompted a visit to his exhibition at Gallery De Novo on Saturday. The gallery was about to close when he saw the Frank Gordon painting The City of Magic & Song but could not find a price tag. […] Mr Rebergen has moved to the city to take on a new role at the Dunedin City Council as an ecologist.
Read more

We’re probably long overdue to have an ecologist on council staff.
We hear good things about Mr Rebergen, who has been with ORC.

Ecologists are specialist scientists who survey ecosystems and assess the diversity, profusion and behaviour of the different organisms within them. Ecologists tend to work for government agencies, environmental trusts, conservation charities and research institutes.
Or indeed as private consultants.

—

Another sort of ecology IS Dunedin City Council.
When the DCC doesn’t check leaks and drains in the hill suburbs – completely misses them despite ratepayer queries and concerns! But City Care to THE RESCUE (the company from Christchurch, best practice in hand) finds was it five burst water mains in less than a day within the same street area, where for YEARS DCC had not noticed a Cuckoo.

Infrastructure Services needs to gaze at its navel CLOSELY (another ecology!) —and Councillors, you need to check within your constituent areas for problems and complaints as well as DCC works not fully investigated and not done. (Councillors, stop desk hugging on those too generous stipends!)

Message to Residents and Ratepayers: DO NOT leave DCC alone

Void the leaks. Void the drainage problems of your surrounding subdivisions. Void the DCC desert that ‘serves’ us. Backfill DCC with people who know how to run infrastructure efficiently and who KNOW civil engineering for ratepayer benefit.

That is All.

—

BUT THEN

Job Vacancy at Dunedin City Council

CHANGE DELIVERY MANAGER
[nope, not the sort of comprehensive change we lust for at DCC but integral]

The Change Delivery Manager is responsible for leading the development, maintenance and delivery of the council’s long term application development plan as well as overseeing the implementation …
Location: Dunedin Central | Job ID: 3086108 | Closing Date: 28 Oct 2016
http://dcc.recruitmenthub.co.nz/Vacancies/3086108/title/Change-Delivery-Manager

More:
[key words below: “supports the IT Strategy”]

Change Delivery Manager
Dunedin Central

Reference: 3086108

The Change Delivery Manager is responsible for leading the development, maintenance and delivery of the council’s long term application development plan as well as overseeing the implementation of new solutions and systems and application upgrades and enhancements.

Extensive experience in programme and project management and the ability to establish and maintain a professional, customer focused service delivery culture is a must. Leading a highly motivated team of 12, you will have proven experience providing leadership, guidance and mentoring to members of the team.

Success in this role means:
Delivering the agreed requirements of the programme/project to the appropriate level of quality, on time and within budget, in accordance with the programme plan.
Ensuring our business applications are current, and implemented in manner that supports the IT Strategy.
Setting and meeting the customer’s expectations
Ensuring compliance with Governance requirements.

We are ideally seeking the following skills and experience:
Proven programme and project management delivery background.
At least 4 years’ experience leading a team.
An appropriate tertiary qualification in ICT/Business and/or well-developed ICT skills to be able to understand the technical aspects of Change and Application governance and architecture.
A demonstrable broad and deep understanding of principals of change and a range of change techniques.
Ability to capture requirements from multiple sources and translate those into effective and high performing solutions.
Excellent customer and stakeholder engagement/communication skills.
Excellent understanding and application of project/programme management, Business Analysis and ITIL practices, tools and techniques.
If you have the skills and experience we are looking for and the drive to succeed, we welcome your application.

Applications Close: 28 Oct 2016

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: pixabay.com – nature

Vogel Street Party 2016 #randoms

On Saturday, the Vogel Street Party hit the streets of the Warehouse Precinct. Now in its third year, the party continues the celebration of Dunedin’s successes by highlighting CONNECTIONS — celebrating the links that bring our Dunedin communities together with the rest of the world, as well as each other. Our gigatown status means we can showcase the creative arts, fashion, music, drama, interactive activities, innovation and development across the city.

Sat, 8 Oct 2016
ODT: Thousands flock to Vogel St Party
A crowd of more than 15,000 took in the sights of Dunedin’s heritage gem during the Vogel St Party today. Vogel St Party Charitable Trust chairman Brendan Christie said the party was “great”.

—

Post and still images by Elizabeth Kerr

Election Year. This post is offered in the public interest.

Dunedin Voting Paper Returns

—

█ Daily return of voting papers for Dunedin City Council

█ Daily return of voting papers for other 2016 Local Elections

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Election Year. This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: screenshot tweaked by whatifdunedin – click to enlarge

Writers’ opinion and support

ODT 7.10.16 (page 12)

[click to enlarge]

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Election Year. This post is offered in the public interest.

Dunedin and the Accessible Journey —it’s hard work! #fixit

An uplifting educational element to election campaign pressures, an event involving the public too – Great going guys!

Channel 39 Published on Oct 4, 2016

### channel39.co.nz Wed, 5 Oct 2016
Mayor hopefuls tackle wheelchair challenge
Disability access is on the minds of some of Dunedin’s mayoral candidates. They’ve been participating in a wheelchair challenge orchestrated by a city council candidate with cerebral palsy. And it’s raised questions about the city’s accessibility.
Ch39 Link

****

### ODT Online Thu, 6 Oct 2016
Wheelchair experience enlightening
Dunedin mayoral candidates got to experience life in a wheelchair yesterday, and immediately discovered difficult cambers, bus limitations and the problem of negotiating crowds. Jim O’Malley, Cr Andrew Whiley, Barry Timmings and Abe Gray joined council candidate Joshua Perry on a challenge to take a wheelchair two blocks down George St and back, a mission that proved harder than it sounded. The challenge was organised by Mr Perry, who uses a wheelchair.
Read more

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Published by Elizabeth Kerr

Election Year. This post is offered in the public interest.

Dunedin bauble #votecatcher

W H I C H ● F O R ● Y O U R ● C O M F O R T

Left by Ken T (via ODT), right by Kent (makers of the retail appliance)

With thanks to the local resident for his comment in Otago Daily Times.

WE VERY MUCH LIKE the Kent Mica 2400W column heater with digital display and happily endorse the smart contemporary design and total product.

—

Benson-Pope has been campaigning for re-election to Council on a platform that includes No Asset Sales. Um, “Point of Order” : The council-owned Filleul St car park is For Sale. A contradiction, perhaps, to now support the hotel development on this much used site ?

From a voter/witness who attended the Candidates meeting at Waikouaiti on the evening of 13 September: “David Benson-Pope was probably the worst; used maybe two of his three minutes; said he was opposed to asset sales and sat down.” Link

[click to enlarge]DCC Webmap – Filleul St car park site starred

—

ODT articles:
5.10.16 Positive hotel response, but design concerns
5.10.16 Drilling set to start 
4.10.16 Luxury hotel a step closer (with graphic)

Related Posts and Comments:
● 4.10.16 The Demon Duck freak show of partial ‘Civic’ information! Before voting closes! #Dunedin
11.1.16 Un hôtel. Dunedin.
19.8.15 Hotels ? Business ? [DCC lost +++152 fleet vehicles] —Cull in charge of building chicken coops, why ?
1.4.14 HOTEL Town Hall… Another investment group, Daaave’s pals from the communist state?

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Election Year. This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image framing and pairing by whatifdunedin

*Credit: Mica 2400W column heater with digital display by Kent [kent.co.nz]